- A report done by Credit Suisse in 2017 estimated that 20% to 25% of malls would shutter between 2017 and 2022, largely because of store closures.
- Retailers have announced more than 8,600 store closings in 2019 .
- These photos show how malls were forced to shutter as key anchors such as Sears and Macy's left.
- Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru, to get more stories like this in your inbox .
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50 haunting photos of abandoned shopping malls across America
American malls are closing all over the US.
Cloverleaf mall
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American malls are dying out.
Retail complexes all over the US are being clobbered by store closures sweeping the country.
Retailers have announced more than 8,600 closings so far in 2019 and according to a report done by Credit Suisse in 2017, between 20% to 25% of malls will close by 2022.
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A national retail apocalypse has crippled US malls as anchor stores such as Macy's and Sears, which take up large retail spaces and drive foot traffic, have shuttered stores and left malls with enormous gaps to fill.
For many malls, this is an impossibletask.
Take a look at some of these haunting photos below that show how badly America's malls have been hit:
This article was first published in January 2018.
This is the Carousel Mall in San Bernardino, California, which closed in 2017. The mall had been hanging by a thread after it lost its two main anchors, Montgomery Ward and JC Penney, several years before.
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Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Source: Business Insider
Euclid Square Mall in Ohio had a similar fate and shuttered in 2016.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
It was temporarily used by religious congregations who held services in old stores. In September 2017, Amazon announced plans to build a 1.7-million-square-foot fulfillment center in its place. That fulfillment center has since opened.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
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White Flint Mall in Bethesda, Maryland, was once home to a Bloomingdales department store.
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AP
Elizabeth Taylor reportedly shopped here.
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AP
Source: The Washington Post
But this wasnt enough to keep it going it shuttered its doors in 2015.
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AP
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Photographer Seph Lawless has become famous for his photos of abandoned malls. Here, he captures Chicagos Lincoln Mall, which closed in January 2015.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Seph Lawless
In its heyday, the 700,000-square-foot mall had the capacity to host four anchor stores and 100 smaller shops.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Business Insider
But in the months before it closed, it was home to just 40 businesses.
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Seph Lawless
Source: The Chicago Tribune
In 2013, the malls owner told The Chicago Tribune that the mall was losing $2 million a year.
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Seph Lawless
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The same year, a court-ordered receiver was appointed to force the location to pay taxes and fines, as well as make necessary repairs.
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Seph Lawless
The malls tenants did not generate enough in rent to pay for the improvements or repairs, according to an attorney for the owner.
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Seph Lawless
Source: The Chicago Tribune
The mall reportedly failed to make these changes, which included creating new exits to comply with fire codes and replacing electrical and air conditioning systems.
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Seph Lawless
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In November 2014, a Cook County judge ordered the closure of the mall following the holiday shopping season.
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Seph Lawless
Photographer Seph Lawless also captured the Metro North Shopping Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Seph Lawless
The mall opened in 1976 and covered over 1.2 million square feet, housing more than 150 retailers.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Kansas City Star
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It was shut down in 2014.
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Seph Lawless
Already, the interior looks like its been deserted for decades.
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Seph Lawless
Its completely run down and leaking.
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Seph Lawless
Lawless has said it was "by far the creepiest mall Ive been in."
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Seph Lawless
Source: The Daily Mail
Developers had planned to renovate the mall, but the makeover was slated to cost $200 million. The plan was ditched in 2015.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Kansas City Star
The mall is now being demolished to make way for a new part-commercial, part-residential development.
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Seph Lawless
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Source: Kansas City Star and Biz Journals
The Randall Park Mall in Cleveland has been empty since 2009.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
Source: Fox 8
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The site was bought by Amazon to be converted into a 800,000-square-foot fulfillment center, which opened this fall.
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Wikicommons/Eddie~S
Source: Crain's and Cleveland.com
Rolling Acres Mall in Ohio was once packed with visitors.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
In 2008 it faced a similar fate as other struggling malls and shuttered its doors.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
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JCPenney was once the anchor store of the mall. It even had its own auto center, which is pictured below.
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Flickr/Mike Kalasnik
After the mall closed, photographer Seph Lawless captured these photographs showing how the complex had been left to rot.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Seph Lawless
The inside of the mall was covered with snow ...
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Seph Lawless
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... and had been left to crumble.
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Seph Lawless
In June 2016, the city deemed it unsafe for locals, issued warnings for people to stay away, and increased police presence.
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Seph Lawless
Source: Cleveland
After several rounds through the bankruptcy courts, it was acquired by the city of Akron.
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Seph Lawless
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Source: Cleveland
Demolition began in May 2016.
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Seph Lawless
These photos were taken of Cloverleaf Mall in Chesterfield, Virginia, in 2011.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
This was the areas first large-scale, regional shopping center.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
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Source: Chesterfield Observer
But it closed in 2008.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
Once a buzzing hub, the inside looked completely barren.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
In 2011 the building was demolished.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
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In its place, a Kroger supermarket was built on the former 28-acre site.
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Flickr/Will Fisher
Source: KLTV
Hawthorne Plaza in California closed its doors in 1999.
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Chris Cognac
Since then its made for an appropriately spooky spot for filming.
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Chris Cognac
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"Gone Girl," "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift," and "Minority Report" were filmed there.
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Chris Cognac
Source: Business Insider
The mall was originally home to national department store chains such as JCPenney.
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Chris Cognac
In total, the space was 900,000 square feet with a five-acre parking lot.
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Chris Cognac
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Today, it is just a shell thats covered in graffiti.
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Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider
In 2016, drone enthusiasts transformed the space into a drone racing track, where users could race their remote control drones around the building while it was lit up in fluorescent lights.
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Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider
Source: Business Insider
But these pop-ups were short-lived. Later that year, the city of Hawthorne agreed to demolish the building and replace it with a $500 million open-air development, but this still hasnt happened.
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Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider
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Sources: Curbed
Maple Hill Mall in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was closed and demolished in 2004. It was rebuilt and transformed into the Maple Hill Pavilion, which is now home to Target and discount stores Marshalls and Dollar Tree.
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Flickr/Simon Thalmann
Source: Business Insider
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Some of these mall closures are less recent. Dixie Square Mall in Chicago, which was once home to 60 different stores including JCPenney and Walgreens, was left vacant for 33 years before being demolished in 2012.
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Flickr/A Syn
Source: Chicago Tribune
See Also:
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